Work handling mechanism



March 14, 1933. M. F. COOK ET AL LQUIJZ WORK HANDLING MECHANISM Filed April l5, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet l TTORNEY March 14, 1933. M. F. COOK ET AL WORK HANDLING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April l5, 1931 March M, E933. M. F. coc-)K ET AL.

WORK HANDLING MECHANISM Filed April l5, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet arch i4, E933. M. F. COOK ET AL.

WORK HANDLING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April l5, 1931 y INVENToRs 72% @ewa og/e U. @M

. 7' f2 w ATTORNEY.

metal sheet without injury Patented Mar. 14, 1933 NlTED STAT,

MARK F. COOK .AND GEORGE BREISCH, OF NIAGARA 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, lA COR.-q

TO ALUMINUM COMPANY 0F PORATION 0F PENNSYLVAN'IA AMERICA,

FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS WORK HANDLING MECHANISM Application led April 15,

This invention relates to work handling mechanisms employed in combination with rolling mills or similar fabricating means. rl`he invention particularly relates to sheet handling mechanisms to be used when it is desired to produce, by rolling, a metal sheetv product of high quality, free from surface blemishes and dimensioned within close tolerances. Y

An object of the invention is to provide an automatic sheet handling mechanism which will satisfactorily handle high grade to the sheetsurface and reduce the required skill of the mill operator to a minimum.

Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic sheet handling mechanism which is of unitary design, and thusadaptable to various types of rolling mills.

A further object of the invention yisto provide an automatic sheet handling mechanism which will increase the capacity of the rollmg mill, to which it has been adapted, in the production of high quality rolled sheet.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism which is7 readily adaptable, by virtue of various adjustable parts, to thecareful handling of sheets of various lengths.

Other objects will presentthemselves on consideration of the following specification, appended 4claims, and accompanying drawings in which: I

Fig. l represents in side elevation the preferred form of our sheet handling mechanism, portions of which have been broken away to more clearly show the construction;`

Fig. 2 represents an end elevation of the mechanism as viewed from the right of,

Fig. l; A l

Fig. 3 represents, in enlarged scale, a fragmentary elevation taken on the line Il-III of Fig. l; f

V Fig. l represents, in enlarged scale, a fragmentary view of the belt supporting pulleys;

Fig. 5 represents, .in enlarged scale, a fragmentary top plan view, in partial section, of the carriage lead screw mechanism;

. Fig. 6 represents a fragmentary View, in

y3 adapted to run 1931. serial No. 530,318.

side elevation, of the mechanism shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. modification of the mechanism comprising this invention; l

Fig. 8 represents ayfurther modification of the mechanism comprising this invention, wherein two such mechanisms, as shown in l, are adapted to a two-high rolling m1 Referring to thefdrawings, in which like reference characters denote similar parts, a preferred form of our mechanism is represented as comprising a main frame A, constructed from structural sections orthek like,

in which is suitably mounted a car-riage B for movement towards and away from' a rolling mill to which the automatic sheet handling mechanism has been adapted. By means of this mechanism," material discharged from the rolling mill is conveyed by suitable endless belts into contact with a` plurality of large diameter pulleys, rotatably supported inthe 'aforementioned carriage B, which direct the sheet into a position accessible to the operator for subsequent rolling.

Referring` which hasbeen shown as constructed from standard structural shapes, but may be made from any other suitable shapes and matef rial, comprises two oppositely disposed side v panels l and 2 tied together by cross mem- This mainl bers to form a rigid structure. frame structureA is mounted upon wheels in counters'unk channels 4 imbedded in the iloor adjacent the discharge side of the mill to which the mechanism is adapted. l

The carriage B, which supports a plurality 7 represents in diagrammatic form a to Fig. 1, the main frame A,

of'large diameter lsheet returning and elevatingpulleys 5, consists of two oppositely disposed side members 6 and 7 which areformed with extending legsS, 9, 10, l1, and 12. Belt directing cylindrical pulleys 13, rotatably "mounted upon centrally disposed shafts `14:, are supported in the extending arms 8, 9, 10, and l1, the ends of the shafts 14: being suitably shouldered and threadedv in such `a manner that the side frames 6 and 7 are tied together to form a rigid structure. A cylindrical pulley o r `idler roll is similarly mounted in the pulleys 5,-which may be constructed of any suitable material, although wood is preferable from the standpoint of weight, are

of the split hubtype adapted to be clamped to a central hollow cylindrical shaftmember 17 which is rotatably vmounted upon a central shaft 1 8 which is supported in the side frames Gand 7. The carriage B is equipped with flanged wheels 1'9 rotatably mounted on shafts projectingoutwardly from the side, frames 6 and 7, the wheels being positioned to run in the tracks formed by the horizontal angles 20. i l

For adjusting the relative position ofthe carriage B with respect to the rolling mill, lead screws 21 are provided. These lead screws (Figs. l, 5, yand v6) are oppositely disposed beneath the flanges of the lower horizontal track angles 20 and are undercut at their ends below the threads, which undercut portions are encased in the bearing blocks 22 supported from the lower track angles 20. Miter gears 23 are iXedly mounted on the lead screws 21 and are adapted to mesh with miter gears 24 tixedly mounted upon the shaft 25 which is rotatably mounted in angular bearing brackets 26 supported on the main frame A.

The rotation-of the shaft 25 by a reversible driving means, such as the motor 27, acting throu h the sprocket and'chain drive 28, rotates, t rough the inter-meshing miter gears 23 and 24, the lead, screws 21 which are in threaded engagement with the nuts 29 supported on the carriage side frames 6 and 7, thus moving the carriage B towards and away from the rolling mill. Limit stop switches -30 are so positioned on the main frame A as to be actuated by projections 31 on the carriage B to stop the motor 27 as the carriage reaches its extreme positions towards or away from the Arolling mill.

Systems of endless conveyor belts 32 and endless hold-down belts 33 are employed in association with the largediameter pulleys` 5. These belts are'` equal in number to the pulleys 5, there being six of each' in the preferredmechanism. The belts are composed of canvas or some other suitable mavterlal which will not scratch or otherwisel tioned in peripheral contact with the large diameter pulleys 5 and cylindrical pulley 15, the flangesl of which are provided to R guilde the belts. Belts 32 are driven by pillleys 34 which are supported upon the shaftl 35 rotatably mounte in .suitable bearings positioned at the forward end ofthe main 36 of fiber or other suitable material, asI

shown to best advantage in Fig. 4.k lndividual belt tightener pulleys 37, rotatably supported in suitable brackets 38, are adapted to slide in arcuate contact with endless belts 32 upon inverted channels 39 under a motivating force applied by manipulation of the lead screws 40 which extendthrough vthreaded holes in the brackets 38. These lead screws 40 are rotatably supported at one end in the cross angle 41, and at the other end in a cross member of the main frame A.

A work receiving table or platform C in the form of guides 42 and 43 is adapted to receive the sheet which is conveyed from the discharge side of ythe rolling mill and raised to an elevated position by means of the pulleys` 5 in combination with the conveyor belts 32. lThe-guides 42 are composed of fiber strips 42a mounted 'on edge upon inverted T sections disposed between the belts 32 and rotatably or loosely supported at their rear ends upon a bar or shaft 44 mounted in lugs protruding from the carriage arms 8.- The rearward portions of the guides 42 are curved downwardly so that they will always assume a position below the levelof the sheet coming olf the pulleys 5 for all positions of the carriage B, and the p forward ends of the guides 42 are supported within the guides 43 which consist of fiber strips 43a mounted on edge upon flanges of inverted channel sections. The guides 43 arev arranged in alignment with guides 42 and arerigidly supported by angular braces 45 and the main frame A. Referring to Fig. 3, the upper edges of the guide strips are rounded td insure against any abrasion of the sheet, and the telescopically arranged mounting permits guides 42 to slide into guides 43 as carriage B is translated. Fiber rolls 46 rotatably mounted at the forward ends of the guides 43 facilitate the transfer -of returned material to a position in front of the rolling mill.

In the operation of our automatic sheet handling mechanism, the main frame A iS positioned in pro er relationship with the rolling mill, to w ich it has been adapted, rail clamps 51 being employed to secure the mechanism in place. A suitable motor control panel for controlling the carriage trans` lating motor 27, and also a variable speed motor 47 directly connected to an adjustabley speed reducer 48 which is sprocket and chain connected to the drive shaft 35, is provided on the operatoris side of the mill. The carthan the metal sheet desired to `the guides 42 and 43.

riage'B is positioned so that the length of belts 32 as measured from the drive pulleys 34 to their points of contact on the large diameter pulleys 5 is onlyl s'lileitlydonger produced. We consider it desirable in the production of high quality sheet, that the sheet be completely dischar edfrom the'mill rolls before it is embraced tween the belts 32 and 33 which procedure eliminates stretching o the sheet, or other deleterious conditions. Furthermore, the hold-down belts 33 provide a positive means of clamping two or more sheets together in pack rolling, thereby eliminating the possi ilit of scratching the superimposed surfaces o the contacting sheets because of slippage.

The sheet, on leaving the mill Irolls, is directed onto the conveyor belts 32 by the stripper fingers 49 and the upper guides 50, and conveyed, in the direction indicated by the arrow, to where it is embraced between the hold-down belts 33 and conveyor belts 32 which act in combination with the large diameter pulleys5 to the sheet upon the platform C formed by Thelocation of the topmost pulley 13 is such that thesheet comes off the pulleys 5 substantially, horizontal when discharged on the guides 42. l

The sheet comes to rest on the platform C where it may be inspected by the operator and drawn over the rollers 46 into position for a subsequent pass through the mill. As the sheets increaseY in length, the carriage B is translated away from the mill rolls. is also possible to increase or decrease the interval of time of returning the sheet, and, therefore, thev time interval necessary for inspection, bysimply manipulating the osition ofthe carriage B an the speed o the motor 47. Two modifications of our sheet handling mechanism are shown in diagram-- matic form in Figs. 7 and 8. In the embodiment of our mechanism shown in Fig. the elevating and reversing-pulle s 52 are stationary with respect to trans ation towards or away from the rolling mill. A

' plurality of endless belts 53 are directed in arcuate contactl with the pulleys 52 and the pulleys 54, 55, 56, and 57 to comprise a conveying and elevating mechanism;

A second system of endless belts 58 are..`

arranged in contact with the elevating and reversing pulleys 52 and also the pulleys 59, P

These belts 58 act as hold- 60, e1, and e2. down belts in conveying sheet material from the discharge side of the rolling mill into engagement with pulleys 52, and are 'of prime importance in pack rolling. Pulleys 6l and 62 are suitably mounted for Vadjustment to any position between their full line and dotted line positions, which construction, in combination with stationaryl guide members 63 of 'fiber or other suitable matev junction with .readily understood that it could be applied elevate and discharge.

l rolling.

rial the top` surfaces of which are arran ed slightly below the line of the belts 58, ma es it possible to retard the return of the rolled material in accordance with the position of 7 the pulleys 6l and 62.

This mechanism is shown as used in cona two-high mill, but it will be to a three-high mill by arranging the discharge side ofbelts 58 in line with the turn pass, in which case the retarding guide members 63 would be eliminated.

Referring to Fig. 8, afurther embodiment of our invention 1s shown. Herein two of the mechanisms, described as being the pre- 30 ferred form of this invention, are arranged one on either side of a rolling mill and are connected together by means of a.. suitable conveyor. As indicatedby the arrows, the

sheet-is fed into the mill from a suitable table 64 and is discharged upon conveyor belts 65 whence it is elevated and discharged by pulleys 66 upon a conveyor 67 rl`he conveyor 67, which replaces the guides 42 and` 43 in the preferred form of our mechanism, 9

charges the sheetinto a similar mechanism' on thefeed side ofthe mill where it is returned between the belts 68 andthe `pulleys 69 to thevtable 64. By adjusting the relative positions of 'the carriages supporting the pulleys 66 and 69, the rolled sheet may be returned to the operator in position, on the table 64, for inspection and subsequent Since it is may be made in the above-described specific details without departing vfrom the nature or scope of this invention, this a plication obvious that various changes 1w is not to be considered limited t ereto exl cept as defined in the appended claims.

What we claim is: f 1. A sheet manipulator comprising a main frame, a drive shaft rotatably mounted on said frame, a movable carriage supported upon tracks in said main frame, sheet elevating and conveying pulleys mounted in Said carriage, idler rolls \rotatably mounted' in said carriage, and a plurality of endless belts in association with said pulleys and l idler rolls in clamping relationship with said sheet elevating and conveying pulleys.

2. A sheet handling mechanism comprising a main framea; movable .carriage suported upon said frame, ed on` the side frames of said carriage, horizontal lead screws threaded in to said nuts, Ibearings for said lead screws mounted ontlie main frame, a pair of gears xedly mounted nuts iiXedly mountm upon the lead screws in mesh with a pair of 1l gears ixedly mounted upon a shaft rotatably supported on the main frame, and means for driving'said second-named' shaft to iinpart movement to said carriage.

An automatic sheet' handling mech- Il anism comprising a plurality of endless belts sheet material, and a receiving table composed of a plurality of guides telescopically arranged to increase Vor decrease in length in accordance with the` movement of the carriage;

5. An automatic sheet handling mechanism comprising a main frame, a movable carriage mounted thereon, conveyor belts and pulleys arranged in association with `said carriage for elevating and reversing sheet material, individual belt tightener pulleys, and a receiving platform.

' 6. In combination with a three-high rolling mill, automatic sheet handling apparatus comprising a plurality of endless conveyor belts in association with adjustable sheet elevating and reversing pulleys, said conveyor belts being arranged'to carry sheet from lthe pass formed between the bottom andgmiddle roll and discharge said sheet into thel pass lformed between the top and middle ro 7.' In combination with a rolling mill,

means for conveying material away from the *y discharge side of said mill, adjustable rotating means forelevatingsaid sheet, separate conveying means for conveying -said material over the top of said mill, and adjustable rotating means for lowering and discharging said material in position for a subsequent l [rolling operation.

8. A 4mechanism of the character de scribed, comprisingl a main frame in combination with a movable carriage mounted for reciprocatory movement thereon, va re ceiving platform, a conveyor system mountedy on said frame,l said conveyor system being adaptedto cooperate withsaid carriage to deliver material to said receiving platform.

A9. A'fmechanism of the character' de- .s`cribed, comprising amain frame, a movable carriage mounted in said main frame, a stationary receiving platform, a sheet reversing mechanism mounted in `said carriage,` said sheet reversing mechanism being adapted todeliver material in reversed position to said stationaryreceiving platform.

10. IA sheet manipulator comprising a main frame and a carriage movably mounted therein, a material receiving platform, sheet elevating and reversing means ymount- Lemme ed in said carriage, a conveyor. system in associationwith said main frame and said elevating and reversing means, said conveyor system being adapted to cooperate with said elevating and reversing means to deliver material in` reversed position to said material receiving platform.

MARK F. 000K. l GEORGE TBRElSCH. 

